So I've been wanting to find something to help me organize my life through the use of my phone for quite a while and have always come up short, mostly because of the oh-so-limited search functionality of the Android market (even on sites like Androlib etc.). Part of the problem seems to be the set of features I want to be included in the app, or at least in interlocking apps (ie one can be opened from within the other and data from one is seamlessly shared to the other), which up until now I have yet to find. So I've come here hoping that our community of tinkerers has found something that might fit the bill. Here is a list of the features I need / want:
Need:
- Calendar integration with alerts, preferably with Google calendar
- Appointments with alerts
- Tasks with multiple levels and with alerts
- Contexts
- Checklists that can be recycled and which can have alerts attached to both the list and individual items
- Contacts integration
- Multi-platform integration (ie can sync with online service and with my desktop)
- Easy to use and easy to keep using (read: doesn't require an hour of my time each day to make sure everything is set for the next)
- Useful widgets
- No monthly fee
- 100% functional (minus sync of course) without a data connection so it can be used when in poor coverage areas or on a plane
Want:
- Much prefer a "Getting Things Done" (GTD) style application
- Location specific alerts (ie upon getting home, a reminder to take the trash out... and yes, I do need this sometimes )
- 100% free (I'm willing to pay for the app, though not a monthly service, but I prefer not to if I don't have to)
- Integration with Email, Text, Phone, and Contacts (ie ability to set a callback appointment from within contacts or us an incoming email to generate a task)
- Persistent alerts (read: I'm going to dismiss something important at some point and I want to be reminded of it again automatically)
Anyway, I know this is a hefty list of demands, but if any of you have suggestions that can actually fit some or all of these, I'd really love to hear them so I can give them a try. I've been looking for this for a while and just can't seem to find something I that fits enough of my important criteria to make it useful to me.
Thanks.
You can try the following :-
Any.Do (free) - A basic to do app without the location feature, it has alarms, different levels of priority and also syncs with your browser.
Remember The Milk (free) - though some features which you are looking for such as location based reminders come with the pro version, which requires a monthly fee that adds up to 25 USD a year and is a bit too expensive in my opinion.
Astrid To do (free) - You can get extra features such as location based based reminders and widgets for about 4 GBP total.
Hope I helped!
Thanks a lot, I'll have a look at those to see if they fit the bill. Do any of them have calendar integration?
treblesum81 said:
Thanks a lot, I'll have a look at those to see if they fit the bill. Do any of them have calendar integration?
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As far as I'm aware, I think Astrid does. I've only ever used Astrid and Any.Do. But you should be able to see the feature list on the Play Store. If you're looking exclusively for calendar integration, I think you should check out Gtasks
madgooner2810 said:
As far as I'm aware, I think Astrid does. I've only ever used Astrid and Any.Do. But you should be able to see the feature list on the Play Store. If you're looking exclusively for calendar integration, I think you should check out Gtasks
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I guess that's another one I'll have a look at, but the thing is that I'm looking for a daily planner, which is also a task manager so I can build to-do lists into my schedule, while also having a good schedule app, if that makes any sense. Kind of an all-in-one type of thing with as much versatility / features as can be packed in.
treblesum81 said:
I guess that's another one I'll have a look at, but the thing is that I'm looking for a daily planner, which is also a task manager so I can build to-do lists into my schedule, while also having a good schedule app, if that makes any sense. Kind of an all-in-one type of thing with as much versatility / features as can be packed in.
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Then, in my opinion, your best bet would be Astrid with the paid locale add on.
madgooner2810 said:
Then, in my opinion, your best bet would be Astrid with the paid locale add on.
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I've spent the last few hours messing around with Astrid today (not the locale plug in though) and found that it lacks the ability to make a reoccuring checklist or at least subordinate lists (ie a task with a list of tasks contained within it) which is one of the most important features that I'm looking for. Unless I just haven't found the right way to do it, if I wanted to make a recurring checklist for cleaning the house, for example, I'd have to enter in each separate cleaning item as its own task which would be cumbersome and also would start filling up my inbox with old tasks pretty quickly if I decide to defer some items off a week or two.
I guess now the question is what would be your second recommendation, if any, while keeping in mind the need for checklists / subordinate tasks? Do any of the other apps like Doit.im, Shuffle, or DGT GTD (all of which have subordinate lists, but not checklists a la remember the milk, and all of which I've tried, but not been able to use successfully for one reason or another) have locale-type add-ons?
Thanks again
treblesum81 said:
I've spent the last few hours messing around with Astrid today (not the locale plug in though) and found that it lacks the ability to make a reoccuring checklist or at least subordinate lists (ie a task with a list of tasks contained within it) which is one of the most important features that I'm looking for. Unless I just haven't found the right way to do it, if I wanted to make a recurring checklist for cleaning the house, for example, I'd have to enter in each separate cleaning item as its own task which would be cumbersome and also would start filling up my inbox with old tasks pretty quickly if I decide to defer some items off a week or two.
I guess now the question is what would be your second recommendation, if any, while keeping in mind the need for checklists / subordinate tasks? Do any of the other apps like Doit.im, Shuffle, or DGT GTD (all of which have subordinate lists, but not checklists a la remember the milk, and all of which I've tried, but not been able to use successfully for one reason or another) have locale-type add-ons?
Thanks again
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You talk about a requirement for a multi-level checklist, unless I'm mistaken, is it the same as the one in the first screenshot of Astrid's Google Play page? Doit.im, Shufle and DGT GTD do not seem to have location add ons, but I did come across another app which might interest you :- "2Do: To do List | Task List" It's for about 6.99 USD and it does seem to have all features EXCEPT location based notifications. My advice would be to fully explore/understand Astrid and then buy the add on if you're interested. I still think it has the necessary feature (sublists) , I am downloading the app and figuring out how to do the same, if I find a way, I'll post it here.
EDIT: To make subtasks, create the two seperate taks (for example let the main one be clean room and the subtask be make the bed), then longpress make the bed and drag it to the the faint grey divider you can see between every task, when you drag it there, you may notice that make the bed got indented to the right and that should make your subtask list! You can verify if your subtask has been included by checking the main task, in this case, clean the room, and if both clean the room and make the bed get checked out you should have understood the whole process. Similarly, you can add more subtasks, say vaccuum the floor, by longpressing and dragging it to the divider just below the main task. Hope I Helped!
alternatively you can check this website out for more help: blog.astrid.com/how-do-i-create-subtasks/
madgooner2810 said:
You talk about a requirement for a multi-level checklist, unless I'm mistaken, is it the same as the one in the first screenshot of Astrid's Google Play page? Doit.im, Shufle and DGT GTD do not seem to have location add ons, but I did come across another app which might interest you :- "2Do: To do List | Task List" It's for about 6.99 USD and it does seem to have all features EXCEPT location based notifications. My advice would be to fully explore/understand Astrid and then buy the add on if you're interested. I still think it has the necessary feature (sublists) , I am downloading the app and figuring out how to do the same, if I find a way, I'll post it here.
EDIT: To make subtasks, create the two seperate taks (for example let the main one be clean room and the subtask be make the bed), then longpress make the bed and drag it to the the faint grey divider you can see between every task, when you drag it there, you may notice that make the bed got indented to the right and that should make your subtask list! You can verify if your subtask has been included by checking the main task, in this case, clean the room, and if both clean the room and make the bed get checked out you should have understood the whole process. Similarly, you can add more subtasks, say vaccuum the floor, by longpressing and dragging it to the divider just below the main task. Hope I Helped!
alternatively you can check this website out for more help: blog.astrid.com/how-do-i-create-subtasks/
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I appreciate the help so far. I'm once again moving away from Astrid because I can't seem to get the subtasks to reoccur as subtasks on a daily / weekly schedule. I'm a manager at a restaurant, so I tried to put together a store closing checklist, which worked fine the first day, but when I set it to repeat for the second day, it did not retain the subtasks as subordinate to the main task and mixed them all in with other tasks I'd created. In addition to this problem, I've been unable to get any tasks that I create to sync with my calendar, even when enabling the GTasks sync and then having GTasks sync with my calendar, which again means that a primary function is not working as needed, or at least I have not been able to figure it out.
I'm going to have a look at 2Do to see what its got going for it, but I'm starting to feel like a lot of the apps that we've discussed so far, while still decent apps which are well written, are not going to present me with the catch-all I was hoping for.
On a side note, I have found that more apps are starting to include location based reminders, but they often come with fatal flaws for my desired use. MyLifeOrganized has location based reminders, but the only way to sync it to my calendar is to use either the cloud based sync or the desktop program both of which cost extra money and, from what I've read, create a system where getting tasks to appear in your calendar is hit or miss at best.
I've also noticed a distinct lack of proper calendar integration in everything I've tried. Some are able to put a task on the calendar, but if I want to be able to attach a to-do list to an appointment or time block, which is possible from what I understand about the calendar code, there just isn't any kind of option beyond making the appointment and then making a task which is due at the same time. Maybe I'm asking too much of these apps?
treblesum81 said:
On a side note, I have found that more apps are starting to include location based reminders, but they often come with fatal flaws for my desired use. MyLifeOrganized has location based reminders, but the only way to sync it to my calendar is to use either the cloud based sync or the desktop program both of which cost extra money and, from what I've read, create a system where getting tasks to appear in your calendar is hit or miss at best.
I've also noticed a distinct lack of proper calendar integration in everything I've tried. Some are able to put a task on the calendar, but if I want to be able to attach a to-do list to an appointment or time block, which is possible from what I understand about the calendar code, there just isn't any kind of option beyond making the appointment and then making a task which is due at the same time. Maybe I'm asking too much of these apps?
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You ARE asking for a for a really feature heavy app. I guess what you require isn't just available in one single app right now. Maybe if you would be willing to combine 2 or 3 apps to get the job done you could achieve what you need. I'm sure app devs will add more features, but as of now I guess all apps I can suggest are insufficient for your needs. If you want, I can tinker around a bit and see what apps you can use as a combination?
madgooner2810 said:
You ARE asking for a for a really feature heavy app. I guess what you require isn't just available in one single app right now. Maybe if you would be willing to combine 2 or 3 apps to get the job done you could achieve what you need. I'm sure app devs will add more features, but as of now I guess all apps I can suggest are insufficient for your needs. If you want, I can tinker around a bit and see what apps you can use as a combination?
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I am willing to combine apps, but only if they are interlocking, or at least very easy to use together. Trying to juggle 2-3 different sets of tasks / appointments / calendars just seems like it would be too cumbersome for me to stick with it, which is ultimately going to be the deciding factor about how successful the app(s) are for my needs. If I have to re-enter a new set of checklists, or even re-subordinate each subtask every time I want a checklist to repeat, I'm not going to use it very long. Just like if I have to do triple-entry bookkeeping to have an appointment or project deadline, plus have that project have a to-do list associated with it, and also have trouble integrating everything into a single calendar, I'm not going to use it very long. If any of that makes sense?
Since we live in an age in which phones pack more computing power than PC’s from less than 10 years ago, the number of tasks we can accomplish with mobile devices grows very fast. Which means the functionality of applications gets better every day, to give us a faster way to achieve our goals, on a day to day basis. That’s why, a lot of automating apps these days try to stay on top of it for us. One of these aps is IFTTT – If This Then That.
Tasks we can accomplish with the app range from scanning for updates on RSS feeds, Ebay, Reddit or Youtube and connecting to different apps, like Facebook, Gmail, Twitter and much more. For instance, we can receive a notification, if a new item is available on Ebay, or when we are tagged on Facebook. It all sounds great, but the question is how well does it work in the real world?
I installed IFTTT mostly in the hope to be able to stay on top of news and new items, which works really well and is really easy to set up. All you need to do, if you want to scan for specific items on Ebay, is to add a new recipe (+ button on top) and search for the Ebay trigger, select it, and activate the channel. After that, enter the search terms or keywords for which the recipe should be searching for. Now that the trigger is set up, we can choose actions or in other words, what should happen when we get a match. There are a lot of actions to choose from, like adding the item to a spreadsheet or text file on cloud based storage services, or simply sending an email to a friend that the item is available.
The procedure to scan the RSS feed of a website is also very straight forward. We simply select the RSS trigger, after we created a new recipe, and then we paste the feed link and enter the desired keywords, for which we are searching for. Now, we just need to finish the recipe with the desired action, and we are good to go. Anytime something with the desired keywords is posted, we know about it. IFTTT looks for changes every 15 minutes.
On the other hand this is not an app which is great in automating only device based actions. It is not meant for that, yet. The problem is not in triggers which give you more or less what you need, but in actions. Lets say I want to disable the pattern lock screen when I get home. While the trigger for a specific wifi SSID is available, the action for disabling the pattern lock screen is missing. We can only choose to change the ringtone volume and update the wallpaper under actions, which is actually pretty scarce. But this is not where its true power currently lies.
To sum it up, IFTTT is great for connecting together services or different apps like Twitter or Pocket and it is also very straightforward with the building of recipes. Anyone can do it. This is something that other automating apps are missing, which is why IFTTT fits right in. Nobody did provide such functionality in such a simple manner to this day...
IFTTT in Google Play
Hello everyone! I would like to share some interesting information about the app we released recently.
It's called 1-3-5 To-Do, our new productivity app for iOS and Android, designed to battle never ending to do lists. While regular to-do apps do help to list all your tasks, they all have one problem - the list has so many to-dos that you can’t accomplish them all. When it’s getting bigger, it’s even harder to complete all tasks.
That really drove us mad and we have come up with a simple solution to get things actually done - we narrowed down the daily task list to only 9 core items: 1 big task, 3 medium tasks and 5 small tasks. All tasks are visible on one screen while the list has predefined priority so you can quickly and easily manage your tasks.
1-3-5 To-Do is very simple to use. The app has 3 main to-do lists: Today, Tomorrow, Someday (for unprioritized tasks). All tasks can be moved between lists and you can always have a snapshot of your tasks. For better task management, there are tags to describe the context of your tasks. There’s also Calendar that allows you to plan your future to-dos, track history and quickly check how many to-dos you have for any specific day.
You can check it out on Googe Play and Amazon (available for both phones and tablets)
Let's talk! If you have any questions about the app, I will be happy to help you out!
This thread is specially for people from India and people who recognise the Indian Talent across the globe.
Let me ask you a question : Who doesn't like to see his community name or country's name flashing in news ? Isn't it a proud moment for all of us?
Take an example of Xiaomi news braodcasting over news channel. You are running late but the moment you hear the news, your feet freez on floor and spearding a wide curve on your face, you look at the TV and smile proudly
The same case is with every nation and their people, beat it's India or China.
Today we are going to explore some cool featured applications which are "Made in India".
Hike Messenger
With instant messaging becoming such a huge trend since of late, it was only natural that India would not be far off the bandwagon. Hike is a communication app that offers both SMS and instant messaging in one single app. Developed by Bharti Softbank, a 50-50 partnership between Japans Softbank telecom provider and Indias Bharti Telecom, the app is the brainchild of Kavin Bharti Mittal. This cross platform messenger app is pretty similar to WhatsApp, but also allows users to communicate through SMS when they do not have access to data on the go, or mobile internet.
Features that make Hike worth trying are:
Invite each of your friend via SMS for FREE
Users can create group to chat with their friends and family members, even along with those who are not in Hike via SMS
Share videos, photos and other attached files up to 6MB via Hike or SMS to anyone
Simple User Interface will make you fall in love with it
No username or PINs required and Hike is always connected
Even if phone is switched-off, Hike saves the offline messages automatically so that users can read them later
All messages on hike are encrypted over Wi-Fi
Application can be moved to SD card also
Share your locations with friends
Pros:
Fast
Simple UI
Sends message to non-hike users as well
Free of cost
Cons:
Smileys and emoticons seems old
Few glitches while uploading multiple files
Download Links:
Google PlayStore
Real-Cricket-14
Created by India-based Nautilus Mobile, Real Cricket 14 promises ‘the most captivating cricket experience on mobile’. This addictive cricket game offers users never-seen before game modes, real ball physics, unique art styles, and tons more. A true must-have app for all cricket fans.
Real Cricket 14 is not a short burst game of a few overs though it can be played like that if you prefer so. But, if you like playing long games with 20 or 50 overs then that too can be played on Real Cricket 14. When you play on mobile or tablet you are not exactly looking for a long stretched game. Your battery consumption takes a heavy toll with this game and if you don't have a charging socket handy, you definitely won't want to take on an innings in the game. The game developers thought about this problem well and have programmed the game to auto save your progress at the end of each over. This way you can spend whatever time you want to play and when can't continue any longer you can just close the app and continue later whenever you want to.
You can select the number of players you want in the game, the overs and the information you need. A thin bar at the bottom of the game also displays useful information during the game like your present run rate, number of overs finished as well as the the number of balls remaining in the over.
Real Cricket 14 is a Freemium game which means that it has advertisements and in app purchases. You can remove the ads by making a one time payment of Rs.50. For the same amount you can unlock more features of this game like T20 World Cup, Knockout Trophy, Master Teams or Super Over.
Pros:
Intutive
Smooth control
multiple leage options
Cons:
Multiplayer Game mode
Download Links:
Google PlayStore
Signeasy
Signeasy, developed by IITian and ex Microsoft employee, Sunil Patro, allows users to sign documents digitally from pretty much anywhere in the world. Its accolades include becoming the second most downloaded app on the iPad as well as the 5th most downloaded on the iPhone worldwide. Currently, Signeasy has over 60,000 paying customers and has crossed the 2 million download mark. It is available on various cloud services like Google Drive, Evernote, and AppSense.
The app lets you import documents (it supports PDF, Word, Excel, Text, Open Office, HTML, Apple Pages, JPEG, PNG, TIFF, GIF, BMP formats) from your photo library, email, and from popular cloud storage services such as iCloud, Dropbox, Evernote, Box, OneDrive, and Google Drive. Once imported, the documents show up in the app's main screen. Tap any document to open it and tap the big blue button at the bottom and tap signatures to select your signature.
Pros:
Enhanced Security
Time Savings
Easy Accessibility
Improved Customer Service
Better Communication
Environmentally Friendly
Efficient Audits
Cons:
In-App purchase could be costly affair but manageable for business needs
Download Links:
Google PlayStore
Shifu
Shifu is a popular Indian-made productivity and task management app that observes how a users uses their phone and reminds them about all the tasks that need to be done. The app has been developed by Deepansh Jain, Michael Massey and Prashant Jain. Instead of you having to set specified time for your specified tasks, Shifu alerts you when you might have the free time to complete a particular task. It has wi-fi based, phone call based, and location based alerts integrated into it. So far, Shifu has 50k downloads on the app store.
One of the big upsides of using an Android phone is the sheer scope of customisation that is available to users. Rooting your phone and choosing a completely different version of the operating system isn't hard, but otherwise there is a whole laundry list of apps that can change everything from the way your phone looks to the way it works.
Shifu, by Delhi-based The Signals, is one such app, which lets you outsource the job of remembering what's important and when to do it. The app keeps running in the background and tracks how you're using your phone. It also requires access to your phone's calendar. So it knows, for example, that at 9AM every day, you're traveling from home to office, and it knows that you're going to take half an hour to get there.
Shifu is a personal assistant app, which helps you record reminders with respect to time, place and some activities.
The Homepage
Here are some use cases for the app –
General time based reminders – Remind me to call mom/dad/girlfriend at 7:00 pm every day.
Location based reminders – Say you’re visiting a cafe for the first time and you really like it, you can set a reminder to remind you of this place the next time you’re in it’s vicinity.
Activity based – Currently, you can set reminders based on networks you’re connected to (WiFi, 3G etc) or when you’re on a call with someone.
In the process, Shifu does something obnoxious as well – it displays these reminders on your phones home screen. I hate that, but it is definitely one the most effective way of reminding me.
Another reminder app?
I might be a little biased against reminder apps; I still don’t think a disorganized person will become organized because of a reminder app. It is a mindset problem of not caring for the more mundane but necessary tasks of life. These tasks pile up and your life becomes a mess (trust me, I know).
The homescreen reminder display
However, a nag, who holds you accountable has been the closest to getting me responsible and organized. I get the same feeling with Shifu. For things that I haven’t attended to, it makes sure that I know about it with it’s homescreen reminder. It’s ugly, but at least it gets me back into the app to get rid of the reminder notification. Sometimes, I even do the tasks that it reminds me to do.
Pros:
The biggest pro with Shifu is that it has realized what it takes disorganized guys like me to take it seriously. Apart from this, it is feature rich and some of the activity based reminder options are pretty cool and I hope more activities are integrated with Shifu. For example, reminder on using an app excessively (game/social media etc) would be a neat feature.
Cons:
The app is data and sensor intensive and there is a visible drop in battery performance that I’ve experienced since I installed the app. However, this is something that the app developers might want to be wary of. Furthermore, if there was a prettier way of displaying notifications on the homescreen, it would be greatly appreciated.
Download Links:
Google PlayStore
Hope the information was informative to you and you will be considering trying few or all of it in near future.
If you have any suggestion, comment or feedback, feel free to drop it in comment section below.
Good job mate ! there is no need to create this op but nevermind . running out of thanks
Reminder App for Daily Work : Prompt
This app helps you create a reminder and alarm for any of your daily tasks with the option to periodically repeat them. There are a number of alarm and reminder apps used for daily tasks on play store but Prompt stands out. The beautiful Material UI of the app makes it the best available alternative among all other daily task reminder and alarm apps. We tend to forget a lot of things due to our busy lives, reminder helps us to complete all our tasks without fail. We need to wake up on time and alarm helps us do that.
In today's era, punctuality is the most important characteristic of all successful people. A punctual person is able to complete all his task on time. Students, Teachers, Politicians, Officials, Traders and the Farmers all have used prompt in order to win glory and success in life. Prompt helps you stay punctual and always on time by reminding you about what to do, when.
Punctuality brings in its trail efficiency. A punctual person commands the confidence and respect of others. If we look at the lives of all great men, we would realize that they had got a time schedule for every day. The Alarm feature of prompt will help you rise early in the morning and kick-start your day!
Those who have problems in waking up early, Prompt is the ultimate solution for you. You will never fail to wake up, ever.
Everyday routine provides a sense of structure and familiarity. Structure is a way of organizing your life so that it makes sense to you. You wake up with a sense of ownership, order, and organization of your life.
One of the more convenient reasons why prompt is important is because it negates the need to regularly remind yourself about what to do. You already know what you have to do each and every day. Once you are finished with a task, you already know what is next on your schedule. This structure provides direction in your life, enabling you to act instead of standing still because of a lack of direction or decision paralysis.
Another major reason for using this app for daily work is that it creates a routine. A routine is something that you do over and over again, eventually making it a habit. Once it is a habit, you do not need to think about it to act. The act of automation increases efficiency in your life, by enabling you to do things without consciously thinking about it. You will automatically get things done, without having to remind yourself to get things done. In this manner, you do not let anything slip and you save time by not having to decide what to do with your day.
Use Prompt daily to never miss out on any task!
Link?
nice
link ?